Thursday, April 24, 2014

Honoring The ANZACS On Their Day

How do you adequately thank a true friend, someone whose stands by you when it counts?

Today is ANZAC day, when our brave allies in Oz and New Zealand honor their superb Kiwis and Diggers, the fighting men who have been at our side through the best and worst of times.

Officially, this is a commemoration of the 99th anniversary of the ANZAC landing at Galipolli, a bold attempt to end WWI that almost worked but ended in defeat. But like the Americans at the Alamo, the gallantry exhibited at 'Jolly Polly' amazed the world.

The Australians And New Zealand fought with us in two world wars, in Korea, and in Vietnam. And the Australians also fought by our side in Iraq. Under their code name Operation Falconer, they were some of the first troops to have boots on the ground.

The Diggers even went to war with us in Afghanistan, even though they're not a NATO country. Anyone who's served in AfPak will tell you how superbly they fought there. Every report I've heard of their performance in AfPak marks them, along with the Canadians, as some of the most useful and resourceful non-U.S. troops in the theater, miles ahead of most of the motley crew supplied by our European allies. They were always willing to mix it up with the jihadis, never shirked the hard jobs, and lost 40 of their mates in AfPak as their share of the sacrifice involved.

Here's a salute to true friendship that never dies..may we be allies and friends forever.